Rural mail-box.



' No; 741,489. I PATENTE DO0T.13,'190? T.'HAMILTON & C. VAN RIPER. iRURAL. MAIL BOX.

' APPLI AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 5; 1903.

vparts being in elevation.

UNITE-D STATas Patented October 13, I 3'3.

, PATENT OFFICE.

RURAL MAIL-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 741,489, dated October13, 1903.

, Application filed May 15, 1903. Serial No- 1 7| (NO 1110591) edcertain new and useful Improvements in Rural Mail-Boxes, of which thefollowing is a description.

In the drawings,-Figure 1 is a perspective view or the box embodying ourinvention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of thesame,

Fig.3 is a perspective view of the mail-receptacle.

1 represents the housing, of any suitable style and material, having anopening in its w front wall, above which is secured a stop 2 on theinterior of the housing.

3 is the mail-receptacle, havinga partition 4 extending throughoutthelength thereof, said partition being provided with a slot 5, to behereinafter referred to. r

6 represents a pair of lugs, between which is pivoted a lever 7, theupper end 8 of which extends beyond the top of the receptacle and isadapted for engagement with the stop 2, as shown in dotted lines inFig.2. Thelower end of the lever 7 is bent backward and is.

extended through the slot 5 in the partition 4 of themail-receptacle,'the extreme end of the lever being divided to form theyoke and double book 9, said hook 9 being normally positioned within themail-receptacle and near the bottom thereof, as clearly showninfulllines in Fig. 2. t

10 is a bar connected to the partition 4 of the mail-receptacle andextending rearwardly therefrom through an aperture 11 in the rear. H p

" honsing,and a mail-receptacle slidablyrnountof the housing.

12 is a brace secured to the rear wall of the housing, to the outer endof which the le-' ver 13 is centrally pivoted, the lower end of thislever being pivoted to the outer end of the bar 10.. w

14 is a slideway mounted upon the top'jofthe housing, in which isslidably-mounted the push-bar 15, having a suitable handle 16 andprovided with a pin 17, the rear end of the represented for purposes ofillustration as a circular disk, upon which may be printed any matterfound desirable. 3 j

The operation ofour improved box is'as follows: After mail-matter hasbeen deposited within the receptacle 3 said receptacle is drawn withinthe housing, pulling the pushr'od forward toward the front of thehousing, and the signal is set in an upright posi tion, th'e'p-artsbeing in the position shown in full lines inFig. 2. The upward positionof the signal is an indication to the collector that'thereis' outgoingmail within the box. To open the mail-receptacle, the push-baris shovedfearward,thus swinging the centrallypivoted lever upon its pivot, whichin turn pushes upon the bar l0,whereby the receptacle is shoved outsideof the housing to the position shown i'ndotted lines in Fig. 2. In theforward movement of the receptacle 8 the lever 7 engages with the stop 2inside of the housing, thereby throwing the lever '7 upon its pivot,thus elevating the hook end 9 to the position shown in dotted lines inFig. 2. It

will be explained that in placing the mailmatter in the box it restsupon the forked or hooked end of lever 7, and in the upward movement ofthe forked or hooked end said mailfmatter is elevated to the positionabove the top of the receptacle, soas to facilitate the removal of saidmatter by the mail-collector. It is obvious that slight changes in thedetails of construction may be made without departing from the spirit ofour invention.

Having thus described our invention, the following is what we claim asnew therein:

1. In a mail-box, the combination with a ed therein, of alever pivotedto Said receptawhen the receptacle is open to elevate the contents ofthe receptacle.

' 2. In a mail-box, the combination with a housing, and a receptacleslidably mounted therein, of a lever pivoted to the exteriorof thereceptacle, one end extending within the receptacle, and the other endextending above the receptacle for engagement withthe housing when thereceptacle is opened-the end of the lever within the receptacle adaptedto elevate the contents of said receptacle.

IOO

3. In a mail-box, the combination with a housing, of a mail-receptacleslidably mounted therein, a lever pivotally mounted on the exterior ofthe receptacle, one end of which extends within the receptacle, Whilethe other end extends above the receptacle; means within the housingconstructed to engage the upper end of the said lever, a lever mountedupon the exterior of the housing and connected with the slidahlemail-receptacle.

4. In a mail-box, the combination with a housing,and a mail-receptacleslidaloly mounted therein, of a lever pivotally mounted on the exteriorof said receptacle, one end of which extends within the receptacle whilethe other end extends above the receptacle; a stop within the housing inthe path of the upper end of said lever, a bar connected to saidreceptacle and extending to the exterior of the housing, a centrallypivoted lever mounted upon the housing, one end of which is pivotallyconnected with the end of said bar, a push-rod slidably mounted upon thetop of the housing, the inner end of which is pivotally connected withsaid centrally-pivoted lever, a signal pivotally mounted upon the top ofthe housing and a pin upon said push-rod in the path of said signal.

The foregoing specification signed this 12th day of May, 1903.

THOMAS HAMILTON. CLARENCE VAN RIPER.

Witnesses:

BERT D. CHANDLER, GEORGE J. DANIELS.

